National track and field leaders from Bay Area go to Penn Relays
National track and field leaders from Bay Area go to Penn Relays
The nation’s oldest, largest and most spectacular track and field gathering — this week’s Penn Relays — will include two of the Bay Area’s finest athletes:
Sonoma Academy-Santa Rosa sophomore Rylee Bowen and Valley Christian-San Jose senior Elena Bruckner.
Bowen, the national outdoor leader in the 3,200 meters (10:13.20 seconds), and Bruckner, the national leader in the shot put (53 feet, 5 inches) and discus (181-1), will compete Thursday at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The three-day event has been hosted there since 1895 and regularly attracts 15,000 participants and more than 100,000 fans.
Bowen has wins in four consecutive major invitationals, the past two weeks at the Arcadia Invitational (3,200) and Saturday at the Mt.
SAC Relays, where her 4:47.26 in the mile gave her the nation’s second-best time this year.
DyeStat.com California state editor Erik Boal calls the four-week flurry the most impressive feat of her career.
Considering that she already has earned two state cross-country titles and competed at the World Youth Championships last summer, that’s saying something.
“Her ability to continue to rise to the challenge racing against some of the best distance runners in the country has been remarkable, especially since she’s come from behind in the final lap to win both mile races and the 3,200,” Boal said.
If she remains healthy, she will be a legitimate state championship contender in June.
Bruckner is undefeated in both the shot and discus in seven outdoor meets this year and swept both at the Texas Relays and Arcadia.
Bruckner and Shafter alum Jelmini are the only two who rank in the state’s all-time top five in both the shot put and discus
Jelmini holds the state records at 54-4¾ in the shot put and 190-3 in the discus.
Bruckner is the “most underrated and underappreciated female athlete not only in the state, but the entire country,” Boal said.
“The fact that she’s already approached that mark so early in the season is a testament to her desire to not only be the most complete thrower in the country, but also the most consistent,” Boal said.
Don’t be surprised if she takes down one of Jelmini’s state records before she heads to Texas.
More track:
St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda junior distance runner Cooper Teare won’t be competing at the Penn Relays, but he did qualify for June’s Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle after winning the 3,200 at Mt.
SAC on Saturday.
Teare won in 8:55.33, a little off his best of 8:54.14 set while taking sixth at Arcadia.
Among the 15 boys to break nine minutes in the 3,200 this season, Teare is the only one to do it three times.
When Boal watched Teare break 15 minutes at the Stanford Invitational cross-country meet in September, “it was clear he was a different athlete from his sophomore year,” he said.
After winning a cross-country state title, Cooper has demonstrated the same significant improvement on the track, where he is already 20 seconds faster in the 3,200 than he was last season.
“If he continues to progress the next seven weeks like he has, he has a great opportunity to contend for the championship,” Boal said.
Mitch Stephens is a senior writer for MaxPreps.com.
E-mail: mstephens@maxpreps.com Twitter: @MitchMashMax
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